Every ground ball has the potential to change the game, provide momentum for your team or deflate your opponent. Your players must develop the mentality that they will go after and fight for every ground ball.

2010 NCAA National Championship coach John Danowski teaches and demonstrates the importance of effort, technique and the three phases of ground balls.

Danowski delivers a combination of non-contact skeleton drills and live contact drills that work on these concepts while also simulating game situations. All drills are broken down into individual, group and team drills. Each position participates in every drill--offensive or defensive, to help develop a high lacrosse IQ.

Ground Ball Phases (important components)

Face-off (Wing Play) - Train your players to box out and pick up the ball on their right or left side, allowing them to get inside position no matter where the ball is located. Drills include the draw play drill and the box play drill.

Offensive End - Players must chase with two hands, move the ball off the ground, bust adjacent to the ball, and move the ball two times (make two passes to spread out the defense). All of this leads to swarming, which Coach Danowski explains and diagrams in detail. Live 2-on-1, 1-on-1 and skeleton swarming drills are demonstrated and explained on the offensive end.

Defensive End - All of your players must be alert for the ball at all times. Players must chase with two hands, give great effort, understand the 7-on-6 situation, run to daylight (run to the open area), turn away from pressure, put themselves in a good position at least 85% of the time, and breakout. A live half-field drill actively trains these fundamentals.

Having a great plan, great effort and great technique are key to chasing ground balls. Give your team an edge in picking up ground balls by implementing these proven ideas and drills into your program.

John Danowski lays out his strategies and approaches for teaching stick work. He starts in the classroom detailing practice strategies for stick work. Danowski believes it makes more sense to use drills that mimic game situations than traditional line drills. All of his stick work drills simulate some game situations.

At Duke, Coach Danowski breaks the drills into two areas:

Non-contact skeleton drills which emphasize fundamentals.

Live contact drills which allow the players to see the consequences of their actions.

These drills can be individual, group or team oriented.

Danowski believes that every player should have a high lacrosse IQ, therefore all positions (including the goalie) are involved in every drill; offensive and defensive. This helps each player understand exactly what is going on out on the field no matter their position.

Moving to the practice field, watch and listen as Coach Danowski explains each drill used to develop his players' stick work. He begins with individual skeleton drills - passing (2-on-0, 3-on-0) on the run, offensive passing, defensive breakouts, fast-break shooting, cutting, and full field breakouts. These non-contact drills mimic game situations while allowing players to perfect their stick skill mechanics.

Coach Danowski then moves into group drills, putting the individual drills together - breakouts, 3-on-2 scrapping, 4-on-3, full field transitions, 3-on-2 scrapping with a trailer, and half-field team offense.

Finally, Coach Danowski shares live full field team drills, putting all of the individual and group techniques to work. You will see how the individual drills are put into action in live game situations.

Developing stick skills takes time, but using game situation drills such as these will help your players improve as individuals as well as a team. Take advantage of these time-tested drills and implement into your program to enhance your players' stick work.